Maggie
by 27elliee
Summary: A new way for Aria to have dealt with the Maggie drama.


_**Starts at Single Freight Female, where Aria meets Maggie at the school under the alias of Amy. **_

"Maggie, is there somewhere we can talk more privately?" Aria asks after Malcom goes to play with the other children in the class.

"Sure, if you wait in the office Cassie will be here in five minutes and I can leave."

"Thank you." I can't do this, Aria thought. Ezra may have a son and I'm lying to him enough as it is. He needs to know.

"Sorry it took a little longer." Maggie apologises entering the small office area where Aria awkwardly stands flicking through her camera roll at pictures of her and Ezra. If Malcom is his son then she will stand by him. Aria squares her shoulders and faces the woman who may share a child with her boyfriend.

"My name isn't Amy, it's Aria. Ezra Fitz, or Fitzgerald as you remember him is my boyfriend, Wes brought you up and he hasn't been able to stop thinking about your abortion. But Malcolm..." she trails off raising her eyebrow at the older woman who is stood wide eyed with her mouth opening and closing like a cartoon fish.

"I can't imagine what you've been through as a young mom, and being able to find a decent job that fits around your son is amazing. But if Malcolm is Ezra's son he deserves the chance to be a father."

"I don't know."

"You don't know if Ezra's the father?" Aria immediately regrets her judgemental tone of voice.

"I.."

"I'm not judging you for not knowing who the father is, I just want to know the facts."

"What are you here to achieve?"

"Like I said, Ezra's been thinking about you lately and your _abortion _he's been thinking about contacting you to make sure you're okay. He's been scared your life may have gone off the rails afterwards, and doesn't want to crash into your life making it worse."

"So he sent you here."

"God no. He's still having a war in his mind about whether to contact you or not. I'm his nosey girlfriend who hates seeing him like that. He has no clue what I'm doing."

"I don't know if Malcolm is Ezra's or not."

"Okay. I'll go home, get something with Ezra's DNA, and we will do a paternity test."

"And then what?" Maggie snarks worried what this girl's aims are. Does this young girl want to be the pretty little step mother?

"If Ezra isn't the father, we tell him the truth and move on."

"What if he is? How will Ezra fit into his life?"

"We'll find a way to make everything work for all of us, but especially Malcolm."

"You want to play happy families with your boyfriend and _my_ son?" Maggie snarks.

"That's not my intention, I just want Ezra to be happy. I'm terrified about all of this. I'm still in high school, having an older boyfriend comes with problems but, I never expected this. I didn't plan on actually talking to you directly. I just wanted to make sure you were okay so Ezra could calm his conscience."

"And now?"

"I'm just rolling with the changes."

"Get Ezra's DNA."

"If he catches me, I'm not going to lie. Whatever the outcome is I'm not lying to him."

"Give me your number, I'll research tests." Maggie demands the mama bear inside her forcing the confident facade.

"Did you talk to Maggie?" Wes asks later that day, I'm exhausted mentally and physically.

"Yeah, I'm dealing with it." I say with fake confidence.

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"I spoke to Maggie, give me a few days and I'll let you know everything. Let's just focus on Ezra's birthday."

"Okay." He sighs as we hear a key in the door.

"Hey birthday boy!" I greet with a smile which isn't returned. "Are you okay?"

"I tried to call Maggie, but she declined the calls. I left a message and she hasn't got back to me yet." He announces frowning.

"She hasn't heard from you for years, chances are she needs a few days to decide if she wants her past turning up." I reason.

"That's a good point."

"Don't contact her anymore for a week, then send her an email asking how she is. Let her get her thoughts straight." Wesley interjects.

"When did you become intuitive?" Ezra grins

"Gotta keep up with you, dude."

Thankfully the rest of the evening is full of good spirits and I manage to hide my anxiety about the upcoming few days.

Five anxious days later Maggie and Aria stand awkwardly in a white walled clinical office waiting for the news that could change their lives and connect them to one another forever. The middle aged technician wearing a fitted grey suit opens the black file on his desk before turning his attention to the women in front of him; the younger woman wearing bright red jeans, impossibly high heeled white pumps, a white floaty top, silver jewellery, her chocolate hair falling in waves of delicious beauty over her pale shoulders her... _were those earrings made from forks?_ The other woman a few years older attired in blue jeans, a black T-shirt and green converse. He shakes his head of his judgement on the reasons for the DNA test and announces the results, not knowing who wants what to happen but after decades of experience he's seen it all.

"I can confirm that Malcolm Cutler proven son of Maggie Cutler is not the biological child of the given man's DNA, hair sample given. Or the man number two saliva sample." Aria let's out a breath she didn't know she was holding, her shoulders sagging in relief before turning her attention to the stricken woman beside her.

"Can we have a moment?" Aria asks the technician with a tight smile.

"Of course, take your time ladies." He takes his place leaning just outside the door so he can not overhear what is said, but will if voices are raised. Or furniture thrown he shudders remembering _the incident _last year.

"I said in the beginning, I'll be telling Ezra everything. Would you prefer to talk to him yourself?" Aria asks taking Maggie's cold hands into her own small warm ones. Maggie shakes her head unable to trust her words. They sit in silence for a few minutes before Maggie breaks it.

"No. I always in my head hoped Ezra was the father but the guilt wouldn't let me tell him. Now I know I can move on. It's just facing the reality that Malcolm doesn't have a father figure in his life. I kind of always hoped I'd see Ezra again and he'd be the father Malcolm deserves." Maggie confesses silent tears rolling down her face.

"He does have a father."

"He doesn't count, I can't even remember his name I was too drunk to realise who I was having sex with."

"I'm not talking about biology. I meant he has a father in you. All that stuff a kid learns from their dad, you can teach him that. And yeah it's going to get harder along the way but one day Malcolm will be with his friends talking about what they're getting their dads for Father's Day and he'll pick some of your favourite perfume and be so proud his mom isn't just his mom, but his dad as well."

"Thanks Aria, I'm glad Ezra has someone as sweet as you in his life." They share a comforting hug.

"Is there anything you want me to tell Ezra? He'll probably try to contact you. Do you want me to stop him?"

"I don't want to hear from him or you, no offence. I want to get home to my son."

"None taken. You don't want your past hindering your future."

"Exactly."

No other words were spoken as the women left the room.

"Ladies, each of your copies of the results are here. Have a lovely day." The technician hands each of them a file before showing them the exit.

"Bye Aria."

"Bye Maggie." The last words the women spoke to each other in the parking lot before turning on thief respective car engines and driving away to face the revelations of the day.

"Hey!" Ezra greets Aria as she enters his home file in hand.

"Can we talk?" She asks joining him on the couch. She curls up next to him, the file resting on her knee.

"I need to confess something, and before I do I want you to know I love you and it's because I love you that I'd make the same decision again." Reaching up Aria soothingly strokes Ezra's curly hair.

"What?" Ezra asks

"I know why Maggie didn't take your call on your birthday."

"How? Why?"

"Because I met her that day, and we decided not to."

"You met her? Why did you meet her? How did you?" Ezra moves to the other side of the sofa putting distance between himself and Aria.

"I tracked her down and my plan was to go to the school she works at and pretend I'm someone looking for a job. She was the one I spoke to."

"WHAT?" Ezra shouts getting it his feet.

"She was good. She genuinely seemed happy and I was about to leave to come here and tell you there's nothing to worry about."

"I feel a but coming." Ezra replies flopping into his desk chair twirling it to face Aria.

"But then I met her son. Her adorable seven year old with dark hair."

"What? Is he? Huh?"

"Let me finish before you get ahead of yourself, there's a lot more to tell you."

"I asked to speak with her privately. I told her I'm your girlfriend, you've been thinking of her and the abortion lately. She confessed she didn't know if he was yours or not."

"What?" Ezra whispers his face ashen, his eyes glistening with tears.

"Do you want me to stop for a moment?"

"No, carry on."

"Okay. We made a plan, I'd get some of your DNA and we'll find a clinic and do a test. We got the results today."

"What DNA of mine did you get?"

"I cut a few strands of your hair. And..."

"And? How much did you need?"

"We thought it best to use two separate samples of yours to make sure the results were sound."

"Well that makes sense." Ezra sarcastically remarks. "What else did you get?" He adds.

"You not only giggle in your sleep, you drool." Aria confesses.

"What were the results?"

"You're not his father."

"Does she know who is?"

"No."

"Did you think of telling me about this at any point?" Ezra asks standing up to pace the small space in front of the couch.

"I'm telling you now."

"You've known about this for days? You've been plotting alongside my EX? Do you think I'm incapable of making decisions for myself?"

"Don't be stupid, Ezra, you know that's not how I feel." Aria stands her chest heaving as she shouts her face so close to his she only needed to whisper but shouted anyway.

"So I'm too stupid to handle my own life? I'm sorry I thought I was speaking to my girlfriend not my mother."

"I'm going. Here's the file with the results. Call me when you've calmed down and grown the fuck up." Aria replies, slamming the front door on her way out.

"What happened?" Byron asks seeing Aria coming home with her makeup running down her face giving her the look of Alice cooper or maybe one of the members of Kiss.

"Me and Ezra had an argument."

"What did he do?"

"It's nothing, we'll calm down and talk it through later."

"I just want to make sure you're okay." Aria smiled tightly at her father before marching up the stairs holding in the 'if you cared about making sure I'm okay you wouldn't have engineered so many situations causing my unhappiness.'

Byron frowned watching his daughter walk up the stairs, her relationship with Fitz was a sore spot for him. The idea that his daughter was in a relationship with her teacher felt as though she was doing it to get back at him for cheating on her mother with a student. Of course she was his baby, he knew he'd have problems keeping the boys away from her; he didn't expect him to have to worry about her with an older man until she was in college, or at least some grungy older man who dated teenage girls because no woman his own age would ever date him so he had to find an impressionable teenager to flatter into his bed by telling her she was so mature for her age. No, he hated to admit but he knew Ezra was a decent man. He hated that. The last few weeks all he could think was how he had ruined so much because he was scared of ruining everything. It was all broken, it was all his fault.

Byron's depressing spiral was broken by the doorbell. Just my luck, Ezra Fitz.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I speak to Aria?" Ezra asked running his hand through his hair for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"Fine. I'm assuming you know where her bedroom is." Byron says letting Ezra in the house.

"Thank you!"

"Whatever you did to make her cry, don't do it again."

"I'll try my best." Ezra promised before launching himself up the Montgomery's stairs, racing to Aria's bedroom before her father changed his mind. He knocked on her door, his first around the handle.

"Go away." Aria shouted before sniffing. Was she crying? He wondered before walking over the threshold.

"I'm not in the..." Her voice faltered as she saw her boyfriend in her bedroom.

"I'm sorry." Ezra whispered taking in the sight of his girlfriend in a My Chemical Romance hoodie and baby pink pyjama shorts, with no makeup and red eyes from crying.

"What for?"

"Jumping down your throat like that, generally being a dick."

"I first met her to see if she was okay, you were so worried I wanted to come home to you and say she's fine, and it would all be over. I was getting ready to leave when I met Malcolm. I didn't want to add the possibility of you being a father of a seven year old on you when there was a chance he wasn't yours, I met her on your birthday. If it was any other night I would have said then, but I didn't want to taint your birthday with worry. So I kept it from you." She explains, Ezra sits next to her on her bed, both leaning against the wall, holding hands.

"He's not my son." Ezra states.

"No."

"Why would you go behind my back like this? Why not tell me what you were planning to do?"

"You'd try to stop me."

"Probably. Why did you want to get yourself involved like that?"

"Because of me you've lost your job, you're not happy or doing what you love. When Maggie was brought up, then Malcolm it terrified me. You've been through so much this year that I wanted to be able to sit here and tell you the facts not add even more stress to you. We're partners Ezra, I wanted to be able to take the burden from you."

"Thank you."

"I love you, Ez. Every aspect of my life is better because you're a part of it and we haven't exactly had an easy ride and you've bourn the brunt of that."

"I get it, I'm still shocked."

"I get that, she cheated on you and lied about having an abortion. But now she has to raise her child not knowing who his father is knowing that when he's older he's going to ask questions."

"Yeah."

"What do you want to do about it?"

"Let it go." He says tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry you were put in the middle of this."

"I love you, I don't mind being in the middle. I'm just glad that you didn't have to have those five days of not knowing the results."

"Me too." Ezra whispers, if Aria had left and told him Maggie kept the baby, if he somehow found out he would have jumped in his car and tried to meet that little boy, would Maggie have told him straight away? Would she have kept it from him that she didn't know? What would he have given up for a child that wasn't his. It's better it happened this way. He wrapped his arms around Aria pulling her onto his lap and held her close.

"You're my forever, thank you so much." He whispered into her hair.

"We're partners."

"I know I just feel like I have to be in charge and..."

"And I took that away from you."

"Yeah. And that's part of why I was angry."

"It's okay." Aria replies before kissing his jawline.

Byron opens Aria's bedroom door a while later to see his daughter and her boyfriend cuddled together.

"Ezra, stay the night if you want. Aria you'd better not be late for school tomorrow." Byron grins leaving the bedroom, pondering _maybe it's time to make amends before I lose her forever. _


End file.
